Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
After going 7-5 in non-conference play, Murray State men’s basketball opened up OVC play with a bang over Christmas break by winning its first four games.
UT Martin
OVC basketball has arrived and the Murray State men’s basketball team kicked things off with a bang, defeating the Skyhawks of UT Martin 89-76 at the CFSB Center.
The Racers won both of their matchups with the Skyhawks last season and will look to do the same this season after making it rain from beyond the arc as well as 55.5% shooting from the field in their first matchup this season.
Murray State jumped out in front and took control on both ends. With 16:34 left to play in the first half, senior forward Quintin Dove converted the and-one layup at the charity stripe to cut the Racers’ lead to 8-7. This is the closest UT Martin ever got to earning its second lead of the night.
Sophomore guard Tevin Brown and senior guard Jaiveon Eaves led the way for the Racers, combining for six of Murray State’s seven threes in the first half. Add a three from freshman guard DaQuan Smith and the Racers were able to use 7-for-10 shooting from deep and hold the Skyhawks to 32.1% shooting which allowed the Racers to head to the locker room owning a 48-33 lead.
Led by a 33-point performance from sophomore guard Parker Stewart—a University of Pittsburgh transfer and Head Coach Anthony Stewart’s son—UT Martin was able to cut Murray State’s lead to six at 54-48 with 13:17 left to play.
Head Coach Matt McMahon said it was Stewart’s ability to get to the foul line and some tough shots falling that allowed him to have such a big night.
“Stewart got 10 points just drawing fouls with his ability to create off the dribble,” McMahon said. “I thought we did a good job of contesting his shots in the first half and I could be wrong, but when I go back and watch the film of the second half I think we contested most of his threes pretty well there. It was just one of those cases of good offense beating good defense.”
This was as close as the Skyhawks got, as moments later Murray State regained its double digit lead and never looked back. While UT Martin outscored the Racers in the second half, the Murray State offensive showcase in the first half was too much to overcome and the Racers were able to walk away with an 89-76 win.
Brown led the Racers with 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds, while Eaves followed with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting and four rebounds.
Senior forward Anthony Smith had a big night, logging 38 minutes while scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double accompanied by three blocks.
“I thought he [Smith] played with unbelievable energy and effort,” McMahon said. “He chased every rebound out there on the floor.”
Sophomore forward KJ Williams came off the bench and also provided a nice spark in the post with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Freshman guard Chico Carter Jr. also made his first appearance since suffering an injury in the Gulf Coast Showcase, logging 20 minutes off the bench.
With some foul trouble against UT Martin and conference play underway, McMahon is thrilled to add some more depth to the team with Carter Jr.’s return.
“It’s great to have him back,” McMahon said. “With the foul trouble that DaQuan had to battle tonight it was certainly nice to have Chico back. I’m really proud of him. When you miss almost six weeks there’s still going to be some rust, but I think he worked extremely hard to stay in good physical condition.”
SEMO
After winning its conference opener, the Murray State men’s basketball team defended its home court and nabbed its second conference win by beating SEMO 81-59.
SEMO jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead to get things going with a three from sophomore guard Alex Caldwell, but the game quickly became a back-and-forth affair for much of the first half.
The lead changed six times in the first half, but it was the Racers who made the most of it, owning a lead by as many as nine for the last eight minutes of the first half.
A dunk from junior forward Devin Gilmore capped off an extremely efficient first half for Murray State, with the team knocking down 60% of its shots to go into the locker room owning a 42-33 lead.
The dunk from Gilmore was one basket from his perfect 7-for-7 shooting night. He finished the night with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Head Coach Matt McMahon said he was thrilled with Gilmore’s intensity on the floor and thinks Gilmore can make a huge impact with his athleticism like he did against the Redhawks.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Devin,” McMahon said. “He’s blessed with elite athleticism and I was excited to see him have success tonight. I think you saw his activity level was high and when he’s flying around like that, he really impacts our team. By the numbers he’s really one of our most efficient players. He never tries to do anything outside of his lane and he just wants to help the team win.”
Gilmore’s contributions, as well as those from sophomore forward KJ Williams and senior forward Anthony Smith, were crucial to the Racers’ success offensively. Williams put 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Smith finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
With the size disadvantage SEMO had, the trio of bigs took over and helped Murray State outscore the RedHawks 54-28 in the paint and eventually come away with an 81-59 win.
“We’ve been focusing on our post presence,” Gilmore said. “We’ve got good shooters in Jaiveon and Tevin and a great point guard, so if we have shooters working hard and knocking down shots and our bigs are making layups and doing what they do, it makes the game a lot easier for everyone.”
McMahon said that it was the bigs’ ability to get in position to score and how they handled double teams that opened up the paint for them.
“I think it starts with doing your work without the ball,” McMahon said. “I thought our guys did a nice job of posting up in the paint. I expected to see some of the double teams from SEMO and I know we made a few mistakes on it, especially early, but I thought overall for the game our bigs did a nice job handling those.”
The Racers also outrebounded SEMO 39-25 with 14 second-chance points coming from their 12 offensive rebounds on the night.
Despite the major differential in rebounding, McMahon thinks his team can do even better on the glass.
“Overall, I thought we didn’t miss many offensively because we were pretty efficient there,” McMahon said. “We did get 50% of our misses on the offensive glass which is outstanding and then defensively I thought we had an average defensive rebounding night for us. I think we can do better [there].”
With sophomore guard Tevin Brown’s 13-point performance, Murray State had four players finish the night in double figures.
The Racers start conference play 2-0 after sweeping their weekend home games and while its just getting underway, McMahon is excited with the work ethic and the progress they’ve made going forward.
“We got a long way to go, but it’s a really fun team to coach,” McMahon said. “All we are trying to do is just keep getting better. They come to work everyday [and] are very focused. Want to find ways to get better individually and as a team and that’s enjoyable to be a part of. I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve been making.”
Jacksonville State
After sweeping its first two-game homestand of OVC play, the Murray State men’s basketball team grabbed its first conference road win of the year by defeating Jacksonville State 72-68.
The win was also the Racers’ first road win since Tuesday, Nov. 26, when they defeated Weber State University 69-68 in the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Murray State started the game on a 9-3 run, but by the 12:14 mark the Gamecocks knotted things up at 11-11. From there on out, it was a nailbiter until the finish.
The Racers were able to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room after a back-and-forth affair in the first half.
However, Jacksonville State came to play in the second half, using a full-court press to force multiple Murray State turnovers. This helped the Gamecocks grab a 42-41 lead—their first lead since 21-20—with 7:42 left in the first half.
The Racers bounced back after the under-12 media timeout, going on a big run to take a 57-50 lead with 7:37 left to play.
Head Coach Matt McMahon said it was the team’s defensive effort that was they key to them regaining the lead and disassembling Jacksonville State’s full-court press.
“I thought they had a great response after the under-12 media,” McMahon said. “We were down five in a great environment and a great atmosphere [then] we came out of the media timeout over the next five minutes with a 14-2 run. I think it started at the defensive end of the floor and then led to some transition baskets and free throw attempts that we were able to convert.”
A three-pointer from sophomore guard De’Torrion Ware cut Murray State’s lead to 63-61 with 5:39 left to play in the second half, but that was as close at the Gamecocks could get.
Despite the late comeback attempt for Jacksonville State, the Racers were able to hold onto their lead and escape with a 72-68 victory.
A key part of Murray State’s success was its three-point defense, which held the Gamecocks to 7-for-28 from beyond the arc.
“If you look at the stats of their last five home games, they’re making over 12 threes a game at 44 percent,” McMahon said. “I thought that would be a big key tonight and I’m sure they probably feel they just missed a few, but I thought our effort to contest shots was really good. [Then] I thought our defensive rebounding was much improved in the second half which then enabled us to get out in transition and get some easy baskets.”
Freshman guard Chico Carter Jr. also continued to take steps forward in getting back to 100 percent after suffering a hand injury earlier this season. Carter Jr. finished with nine points on 3-for-7 shooting in 24 minutes of action.
“I’m really proud of him,” McMahon said. “I thought he was very good tonight. He was efficient at the offensive end of the floor and more importantly, what won’t show in the box score, I thought this was his best defensive game as a Racer. Tonight I thought his effort and activity level was really good at that end of the floor and was really locked in to the scouting report. I think you just see him keep getting better and better.”
Sophomore guard Tevin Brown led all scorers with 24 points on 7-for-15 shooting to go along with six rebounds and three steals in 40 minutes of action.
The win is big for the Racers considering the team hadn’t beat Jacksonville State at home since 2018 and McMahon said it is something they can build on going forward.
“I think the confidence comes from beating a really good basketball team,” McMahon said. “They’re playing very good basketball and they’re a very disciplined, well-coached team. I think finding a way to win in a great environment like this; we can take confidence in that going forward.”
Tennessee Tech
Murray State men’s basketball moved to 4-0 in OVC play by winning its second of a four-game road swing against Tennessee Tech 81-69 after having an 18-point lead vanish in the first half.
The Golden Eagles took a quick 7-4 lead after a triple from freshman guard Keishawn Davidson, but then the Racers bounced back with an offensive clinic.
Murray State took a 25-7 lead when freshman guard Chico Carter Jr. finished a layup on a fastbreak to cap off a six-minute 19-0 run.
However, minutes later TTU bounced back with a 15-0 run to cut Murray State’s lead to 27-24 with 5:43 left to play in the first half.
The Golden Eagles continued to claw their way back with a three from sophomore guard Jr. Clay—his second of the game—to head into the locker room trailing 36-35.
The deep ball was a constant weapon for TTU throughout the night, as they converted on 11-for-24 attempts. Meanwhile the Racers used their post presence to counterbalance the Golden Eagles’ consistency from beyond the arc.
With assistance from a 17-point performance from sophomore forward KJ Williams and a 14-point 10-rebound double-double from senior forward Anthony Smith, Murray State was able to outscore TTU in the paint 40-26.
Head Coach Matt McMahon said that their dominance in the post helped minimize how effective the Golden Eagles were from three.
“They did a nice job and hit a lot of threes,” McMahon said. “Too many more than we would like to give up, but overall I thought the advantage that we had inside paid off, especially in the second half.”
Murray State used this to its advantage, never losing its lead in the second half en route to an 81-69 victory.
McMahon was thrilled with his team’s fight and ability to stall the Golden Eagles’ comeback attempt and said it was a huge factor in the win.
“I was pleased with their composure,” McMahon said. “Credit to Tennessee Tech [as they] battled back. They made it a one-point game at the half [and] I think sometimes [that makes] you go in there at the break and you feel like you’re down 20. The momentum had swung in the game and I thought our guys moved forward from that, came out and really executed when we really had to in the second half and were able to do enough to win.”
Along with solid post play, freshman guard DaQuan Smith and senior guard Jaiveon Eaves provided plenty of offense at the guard position.
Eaves finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go along with three assists and two steals, while DaQuan Smith finished with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
DaQuan Smith flipped the script offensively against TTU after struggling to register a single point against JSU and said that keeping a shooter’s mentality helped him have a solid night on the offensive end.
“Just moving on to the next game,” DaQuan Smith said. “It’s a short turnaround, so [I] just have to stay aggressive and keep taking the same shots that I’ve been taking.”
DaQuan Smith also made an impact in the rebounding battle, grabbing five while dishing out two assists. At the end of the day, Smith knows he’s capable of impacting the Racers in multiple fashions and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the win.
“I just want to do what my team needs me to do every different night,” DaQuan Smith said. “If they need me to score, facilitate, defend, rebound—I just want to do anything my teams need me to.”
Murray State now moves to 11-5 overall with a 4-0 record in OVC play. The Racers will continue their four-game road stretch with their matchup against UT Martin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16, in Martin, Tennessee.
